Kuala Lampur, April 2 -- We live in an age canonised by innovation. From Silicon Valley boardrooms to government economic strategies, the mantra is relentless: disrupt, iterate, accelerate. We celebrate the agile startup, lionize the visionary founder, and pour capital into anything with the prefix "deep-tech" or "bio-revolution." This worship of the new is not misplaced-innovation drives growth, solves complex problems, and propels national competitiveness. Yet, in our headlong rush toward the next breakthrough, we are dangerously neglecting the essential human skill that must accompany it: critical thinking. Without it, our innovation-led economy is building on shifting sand.

Innovation, at its core, is the generation of new ideas and ...